Today has been a quiet day. In fact, I never left the house. I spent most of the day at my computer archiving my books on tapes and working on a photo tribute to my mom.
I had about an hour and a half nap this afternoon. You know, when you’re old and retired, you can do this.
Tomorrow is an appointment with the eye doctor, so I have to get up and be ready to leave by 8 am
Time for bed.
Until next time…
Today, my sister-in-law Esther and I went to the Florida National Cemetery where her late husband David and our sister-in-law Fumi are buried. If you have never visited this place, please take the time when you’re driving through Bushnell on I-75. Exit 309 is about 50 miles north of where I-275 and I-75 come together near Tampa.
The cemetery, which was established in 1980, was carved out of the Withlacoochee State Forest. There are a lot of trees and an abundance of green lawn.
The pictures below do not do it justice, but they may give you an idea of what it is like.
Flags lined the entryway to the cemetery. This picture was taken from the area near the sign below.
The directory is located near the administration building which also houses a couple of gravesite locators. Here, Esther enters the last name of Dillenbeck and finds both David and Fumi. At this locator, you can print a map with the name and monument number of the person you want to find.
After driving around, we found the section where Fumi is resting.
As you can see, she is in section 405, monument number 100.
Esther brought flowers and, as you can see, did a wonderful job of decorating the gravestones.
David rests in section 324, tombstone number 192.
What a restful place to await the coming of Jesus when He comes to call us home.
Visiting a national cemetery really brings home how many have served their country in order to keep us free. May God bless them and their families. Let us never forget the price they all paid and let us live worthy of the sacrifice they have made. Let’s restore honor, restore integrity, and restore the Constitution.
Happy Memorial Day, everyone! God bless the USA!
Until next time…
This morning, I read the following in my RV Travel magazine:
“Swim fins were invented by Benjamin Franklin. They were wooden flippers he wore on his feet when swimming. He had earlier devised lily pad-shaped wooden palettes to wear on his hands.”
This was a real surprise to me although I did know that Ben Franklin was quite an inventor. Did you know that he invented the Franklin stove? He had been concerned about the number of women who suffered death/damage because they had to cook (in their long dresses) at an open fireplace and their long skirts would often catch fire.
And, of course, all of us who are old enough to remember the Disney film Ben and Me probably remember that Ben also invented bifocals among a number of other things Amos the mouse, narrator of the story, talked about.
During the last several weeks, Glenn Beck has been talking about Founding Fathers on his Friday (5 pm Eastern) program on Fox News Network, although he has not yet had a program devoted to Ben Franklin. He’s covered Samuel Adams, George Washington and George Whitefield. Yesterday, he talked about a number of BLACK Founding Fathers. Yes, “BLACK” Founding Fathers. You can see part of this show at:
I’d never heard anything regarding black people involved in the American Revolution and I would bet you hadn’t either.
Did you know that the night of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride, another of the riders, who happened to be black, also rode out to warn that the British were coming. Yes, his name was Israel Bissell and he rode farther and longer (four days and six hours covering 345 miles) than Paul Revere, but most people have never even heard of him. Know why? His name didn’t rhyme with “hear,” as in “Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,” from that famous poem by Wordsworth.
Another black founder, James Armistead, who worked with Marquis de Lafayette and as a double spy for the Americans, was instrumental in the Americans winning the Revolutionary War.
Joseph Hayne Rainey, a former slave and the first black Speaker of the House (did you even know there had ever been a black Speaker of the House?), was elected to that office in April, 1874.
Re: Glenn Beck, I recommended the following links on facebook and hope you will take the time to read these articles by Robert Ringer:
http://blog.robertringer.com/2010/05/28/glenn-becks-departure-from-fox-news-part-i/
http://blog.robertringer.com/2010/05/29/glenn-becks-departure-from-fox-news-part-ii/
Isn’t it too bad that we don’t know much about our founding fathers and that much of what we have been taught is revisionist history? Progressives wanted to take God out of our schools and they have done that. They wanted people to NOT know about the founding our of country. They’ve pretty nearly succeeded in that. They want as many people dependent on the government as possible, because dependence on the government makes it easier for them to control us.
Let’s get rid of progressivism in this country. Let’s learn the true history of this country and restore it to the representative republic the founders designed. EQUAL justice, not SOCIAL justice.
Speaking of social justice, I checked some of the church websites for references to social justice. This concept, which sounds like a good thing, is not. I found it referenced positively at the United Methodist Church website, the Church of the Nazarene website and even the Southern Baptist website.
According to Wikipedia:
“Social justice is also a concept that some use to describe the movement towards a socially just world. In this context, social justice is based on the concepts of human rights and equality and involves a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution. These policies aim to achieve what developmental economists refer to as more equality of opportunity than may currently exist in some societies, and to manufacture equality of outcome in cases where incidental inequalities appear in a procedurally just system.”
This is a political system that thinks health care is a right, that everyone should have it whether they want it or not. They’re prepared to fine you or put you in jail if you don’t comply. They’re using the IRS to enforce it.
Which do you think is better: you decide what you do with your money or the government decides how to spend your money. Social justice involves the government taking your money and giving it to people whom leaders decide deserve it or need it. Equal justice gives YOU the right to decide where to put your money.
Can the government decide how to spend your money better than you? They’ve done such a bang-up job on the economy and on GM (Government Motors) and the post office and Medicare and Social Security and on and on. If they pass this latest financial regulations bill, they will control about 60% of our economy. Things sure are not looking up, are they?
Think about it.
On a Much Lighter Note…
Today, I went to see the movie Letters to Juliet. It was the epitome of a chick flick, but very entertaining. Starring Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave, it mostly took place in Verona where people leave letters to Juliet of Romeo and Juliet fame. If you get a chance, it’s well worth the time and money.
Until next time…
Tonight, as I write this, I am working on archiving the 16th of 17 tapes that make up Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. One more to go.
Then, I only have 3 stacks about one foot high of other books on tape to archive. Yeow! I might be done by the end of this year.
Left over from yesterday…
Yesterday, I mentioned I had gone to Sam’s. I forgot to tell you about a great item I found for the camper – an 8-piece 24-oz textured finish tumbler set. Notice I didn’t call them glasses since they are not made from glass. Instead, they are made from a material called Tritan. I never heard of this so I looked it up on the Internet where it was described as a copolyester, made from a resin that is Bisphenol-A (BPA) free. They have an “ability to endure the harsh cleaning environment…”
While I prefer to drink from a glass glass, I decided I could do without any glass in the camper. The weight and the possibility of breakage were the two most important factors. As you can see from the picture, these tumblers are very colorful.
Aren’t they pretty? Hope each of you can join me at my camper for a drink from them sometime. You’ll see for yourself if they are as delightful as they look. You’re all welcome at any time.
Until next time…
From yesterday’s post, you know that I’m in the middle of a project to clean out my shed. Today, I found – can you believe it! – TWO BOXES of books. As if I don’t have enough already to get rid of!
Most of my day today involved bringing in the books from the shed, scanning their front covers and putting them out for sale on my eBay store. Except for a handful, I finished one whole box. Of course, while I was doing that, I also was archiving my Harry Potter cassette tape – I’ve now done 9 of 17.
In spite of the fact that this is fairly easy work, I must confess it is exhausting, at least mentally.
On Another Note…
I ran into a friend of mine at Sam’s Club today. We worked together at Rehabilicare. She and her husband run a sign and printing business. If you ever need a sign or t-shirts or a banner or any number of other printed materials, you can check them out at http://www.signparrot.com/
They do great work and will even help you with the design.
It was so great to see Dianne; it’s been several months. She’s still looking for work, but of course this frees her up to help out at Sign Parrot.
Sign Parrot is named for their clever African Grey parrot, Buddy.
Until next time…
A friend of mine sent me an email today which sums up the debate on the new AZ immigration law and exposes the absurdity of those who oppose it.
I must show ID when:
1. Pulled over by the police
2. Making purchases on my master card or VISA credit card .... every dang time.
3. When I show up for a doctor's appointment.
4. When filling out a credit card or loan application.
5. When applying for/renewing a driver's license or passport.
6. When applying for any kind of insurance.
7. When filling out college applications.
8. When donating blood.
9. When obtaining certain prescription drugs.
10. When making some debit purchases, especially if I'm out of state.
11. When collecting a boarding pass for airline or train travel.
I'm sure there are more instances but the point is, we citizens are required to prove who we are nearly every day.
Why should people illegally in this country be exempt?
Why should they be calling us racists or bigots???
Doesn’t that just about say it all?
My Archive Project
I’ve been making great progress on my archiving project, but it’s kind of discouraging because for every CD or cassette I process, I find 10 more to do. But the project is worth it. Tapes and CDs take up a lot of space, but I can archive my tapes and CDs to my computer for use on iTunes and my iPod and no matter how many I add, they take up no additional physical space.
I’m currently working on the last Harry Potter tape, which is really the sixth – I’ve already done the seventh. It was on CD and was easier and faster to do than the 27 hours of cassette tape that the sixth takes.
While doing this project, I’m getting some more stuff done around the house. This morning I started going through the shed. I have a feeling a lot of what’s out there will just be discarded. I am finding a few things to take with me when I RV full-time: a Coleman two-burner propane stove, a one-burner Coleman propane Store and a one-burner Coleman gas stove. Can anyone spell redundancy?
I did find a hot-glue gun I might find use for in my tool kit. and some Trivial Pursuit games I’ll probably get rid of. If anyone would like one, let me know.
Until next time…
Last Saturday, I missed the Sing Live, USA concert because I was too sick to leave the house. My sister-in-law Esther sings with this group. In fact, she has sung with the group in Leeds, England, at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, and even at the Vatican.
Today, I rode to Orlando with Esther and was privileged to attend their concert. It was very entertaining. They sang music from Broadway, a medley of songs by the Beach Boys, a medley of songs by the Beatles, a medley of songs from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and a number of other individual songs. I particularly enjoyed The Chattanooga Choo-Choo. An incredibly talented group of young people were also special guests of Sing Live.
I hope you all get a chance to hear this wonderful group sing sometime. You won’t be disappointed.
After the concert, we headed back and had our dinner at Anthony’s Coal-Fired Pizza, one of my favorite places. We enjoyed a delicious mozzarella and tomato salad, a well-done coal-fired pizza, and steaming chicken wings with caramelized onions. I even have enough left for another meal or two.
What a great day!
Until next time…
While having dinner the other night with some friends, one of them, while reaching for her cell phone, jokingly referred to it as her Obama phone. When I asked her what she meant by that, she said it was her free phone courtesy of Obama and I could get one just like it.
“Free?” I said. “Who paid for it?”
“What do you mean?” she asked. “It’s free.”
As you can imagine, I quickly let her know that free is not free. Someone had to pay for it and it was probably all of us taxpayers at the table.
She was flabbergasted, had just accepted the free phone. Did she think money grows on trees?
A friend of mine sent me the following in an email. I found it instructive and hope you’ll share it with everyone you know. There is a cancer pervading this country – socialism, Marxism,or whatever you want to call it.
IS THIS HAPPENING TO US?
There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class.
One day while the class was in the lab, the Professor noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt.
The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist regime.In the midst of his story, he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked: "Do you know how to catch wild pigs?"
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line.
The young man said that it was no joke.
"You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday o eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming.
When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence.
They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side.
The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat that free corn again.You then slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom.
They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught.
Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity."The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in America. The government keeps pushing us toward
Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax cuts, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms, just a little at a time.One should always remember two truths:
1) There is no such thing as a free lunch, and
2) You can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.If you see that all of this wonderful government 'help' is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America you might want to share it with your friends.
If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life, then you will probably ignore this.
But God help you when the gate slams shut!
I’m sure you’ve heard that if you drop a frog in boiling water, he’ll jump out, but if you put him in water and apply heat gradually, he’ll stay there till he dies. I think we’re in that water, nearly at the boiling point. It’s time to jump out.
Restore integrity.
Restore honor.
Restore the Constitution.
Let’s replace all of those criminals that make up our Congress, both Republican and Democrat, and restore our government to what the founding fathers envisioned, where individual liberty is protected, where justice is equal for everyone, and where “social justice” – where the government steals money from some of its citizens to give to others -- are just words that will appear in our history books in a few years.
Until next time…
Today, I turned 65…never thought I would live to be this old. Funny thing about it all is that I don’t feel that old. In fact, except for an ache here and a pain there, I feel as good as I did at 35.
This day was just spectacular in many ways. I gained a new appreciation of just how many great friends and wonderful family that I have.
This morning, the phone rang and my sister-in-law, Esther, sang Happy Birthday to me. We had a nice chat and she invited me to go to Orlando with her Sunday afternoon, where her singing group will put on a concert very much like the one I missed last week because I was sick.
Later, Fed Ex delivered a tin of 16 Mrs. Fields cookies. The tin is colorful and has the words “Happy Birthday” on it. Long after the cookies are gone (I’m hoping they’ll last me exactly 16 days), I’ll be able to use the tin and each time I see it, I’ll remember my wonderful 65th birthday, made more than memorable by all of the birthday wishes from my friends and family.
This evening, I joined some of my very dear friends (Karen, Joan, Joyce and Tammy) at my favorite restaurant – those of you who know me well, will know I’m talking about Carrabba’s. We had a leisurely dinner, though all but Tammy ate too much warm crusty bread with the Italian butter (better known as olive oil with freshly cut herbs and spices).
The house salad was fresh and crunchy and dripping with creamy Parmesan dressing. I particularly enjoyed the two Calamata olives.
The spaghetti with meat sauce and Italian sausage was steaming hot and perfectly cooked. The fresh Romano cheese the waiter grated at the table and sprinkled on top was the icing on the cake. The meat sauce was a wonderful contrast to the pasta and the fennel-rich sausage rounded out the dish. Of course, I had eaten so much bread, I had to bring most of my entree home. Isn’t it terrible that I will have to eat some tomorrow?
Speaking of cake, at the end of the meal, I was surprised to be served a generous bowl of creamy vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and candied pecans. Even though I was full from all of the bread and pasta, I finished every bit of it. My tablemates had to grab my arms to keep me from picking up the bowl and licking it clean – just kidding.
The meal was wonderful, but being with my friends was even better. We have all known each other for years and thoroughly enjoy each other’s company. It was great fun catching up on what’s happening in their lives.
I received several gifts at my birthday dinner, including a gift certificate for Amazon.com with which I can get some more books for my Kindle, a gift card for Wal*Mart that says Happy Birthday on it, and a tee-shirt with pictures of a number of pick-up trucks and the words “Pick Up Line” on the front.
As I look back on this day with a smile, I am so grateful that God blessed me with so many magnificent friends and family. I don’t know what I would do without you all.
Until next time…
One of the things I must accomplish before heading out to RV full-time is to reduce the amount of stuff I have. I’m making some progress, but today I started a project that will allow me to get rid of all of the cassette tapes I have – there must be 300 or more.
My Ion Turntable, which allows me to record my phonograph albums (for you too young to know what they are, they are vinyl records that you place on a turntable and they magically produce music), has a feature which allows me to plug my boom-box into it and play cassette tapes which stream to my computer and, with the right software, produce MP3 files. I can then put them on my iPod.
Cd’s that are imported into iTunes using the CD drive hardly take any time, but cassette tapes actually must be played, so it takes just as long as it would to listen to it.
The software that comes with this turntable allows for entering the artist, album and titles of the songs you play. I will also be able to copy all of my books on tape. Just think, I don’t need to drag all of those books and cassettes with me in the camper. They’ll all be stored on my computer and iPod. Oh, what a relief it is! I didn’t want to drag them all along with me and I didn’t want to part with them.
On Another Note…
Today I went to Jarrett-Scott Ford in Plant City to pick up a bottle of touch-up paint. I have one little ding on my driver’s door that I got from hitting something I didn’t notice when I opened the door. It’s no bigger than a flea, but I’d like to keep it pristine. Let’s hope I’ll never need more than that one little bottle.
Another Year Older…
Tomorrow marks quite a milestone – my 65th birthday. I expect it’s all downhill from there. Truthfully, though, I feel as good or better now than I did 20 years ago--at least, as much as I can remember. :)
Until next time…
I really meant to post this on Sunday, but never got around to it.
Saturday did not go according to plan AT ALL. I woke up and discovered I needed to stay close to my good friend, Commode.
Because of this, I had to call Camping World and arrange to pick up my camper today – they were very understanding. I also was unable to go hear the group my sister-in-law Esther sings in. They sang at the First Baptist Church in Tampa and I was really looking forward to going. Ah well, maybe next time.
On Sunday, feeling like a new person, albeit an empty one, I went to AMC Regency to see Just Wright with Queen Latifah. Perhaps my previous day had affected me more than I thought. I got to the theater early (about 9:30) to see the 10 am show. Unfortunately, the 10 o’clock show didn’t start until 11:25. I had apparently misread the time. Maybe I wasn’t as recovered as I thought. Needless to say, I got home a little later than I thought I would.
I have accomplished one thing over the last several days. I went through all of my software and tried to load it on my new notebook PC. I tossed a bunch out. I also put all of my movie DVDs in notebooks and logged everything in an Access file I created to track such things. Before tossing the DVD covers, I scanned the front and back and any pertinent accompanying paperwork.
Even though I’ve sold more than 100 videos, I still kept a lot:
Altogether, I have 331 entries in my notebooks Access file.
Today, after having my backup camera installed on my F-150 at Best Buy, I went to Camping World to pick up my camper. When we went to hook it up (I backed the truck perfectly up under the hitch coupler on the first try – the back-up camera with 7.5” screen is AMAZING!), we found that the jack did not work correctly. The guy who had worked on it came out and brought battery cables. Apparently, someone had left the porch light on and run down the battery.
As he talked with me I discovered he had done the 45-point inspection and had recommended that, among other things, the A/C be serviced and the porch light be replaced. He also recommended an ozone treatment to rid the camper of the smoky smell, which, oddly enough, I had only noticed on the mattresses. I decided to leave it for them to take care of that stuff.
They are also going to dispose of the mattresses and replace them with new ones. Did I mention how glad I am that I don’t have to find a place to dispose of those mattresses? I also asked them to put some kind of latch on the outside door to keep it open. The existing latch isn’t really a latch and the slightest breeze slams the door shut.
It was kind of disappointing not to be able to bring the camper home. I had visions of backing it into my space with no trouble. Too bad I can’t put a backup camera on the back of the camper too.
I’m determined to have everything working perfectly when I start out for my long trip to New York. Hopefully, I’ll be able to bring it home in time to load it up before it’s time to leave. :) (I have about a month – do you think that will be long enough?)
Until next time…
Today, since it looked like it might rain (and you can NEVER completely trust the weatherman), I decided to go to the movies.
As you can see by the title of this post, I went to see Furry Vengeance with Brendan Fraser and Brooke Shields. As I expected, there was a lot of environmental propaganda, but the animals that were wreaking the vengeance were extremely cute. The movie was hilarious – lots of situations where the animals, led by a raccoon, stop development of a pristine, supposedly protected forest. There were birds dropping, well, droppings; skunks spraying within the confines of a car, a host of animals wrecking cars by releasing big rocks at just the correct moment, and even a bear locking Brendan Fraser in a much-used porta-potty and then sending it rolling over and over. You can imagine the mess.
Camper Ready, But Am I?
Camping World called late this afternoon to let me know my camper is ready, so I’ll be picking that up in the morning. On Monday, I will begin cleaning the camper inside and out, then I’ll start to load the stuff that will stay there permanently. I’d like to take it out for the first time late next week. I expect to camp two or three times before heading out to New York.
The Dillenbeck Website
I had some work to do on the Dillenbeck website (http://www.dillenbeck.com) today. This year marks the 100th year that Dillenbecks from all over have celebrated with a reunion. I was hoping to attend this year, but don’t really want to travel so far twice in one year. Oh, well, there’s still plenty of time to decide.
R & R
After my big day, I plan to spend tonight on a little rest and relaxation. I’m in the middle of another Sue Henry book and can’t wait to read the end.
Until next time…
As you know from Tuesday’s post, I had an appointment to have the towing mirrors installed on my truck. As you can see from the pictures, it sure makes it easier to see behind me.
You’ll notice that I emphasized how much better I can see BEHIND me. Now, why do you suppose I did that?
Well, today, while driving a friend down to the courthouse in Tampa, I was checking around to find a way around all of the construction on the street where the courthouse is located. Much to my dismay, as I was stopping for a red light, I heard a clunk. I looked back and realized my wonderful-for-looking-behind-me towing mirror had clipped the mirror of an SUV from Channel 10. In my confusion about where to go I guess I didn’t notice him parked there on the street.
I had an understandably sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and spent most of the rest of the day wishing I could reach my backside with my foot. Fortunately, no one was hurt and my new mirror was just fine, because it folds in from the front—obviously it’s still a little stiff. The driver of the car was sitting reading the paper when I hit his mirror. He wasn’t hurt at all and although his mirror fell off the bracket, I was able to put it right back on. Still, it will probably cost a little to fix it.
Needless to say, during the rest of the time I was driving today I was very aware of where my mirrors were headed.
Tomorrow, the space shuttle is scheduled to take off. I may ride down that way to get a little closer look and stop at Bass Pro Shop on the way there or back. At this point, if I go, I don’t know how close I’ll try to get. Traffic can be a bear during shuttle launch day, but I really have all of the time in the world to get around. On the other hand, I may just go to a movie or put a coat of sealer on my completed and strengthened ramp.
So much to do, so little time.
Until next time…
Well, today was the big day, the day I went to Camping World to pick up (well, not literally pick it up – it’s way too heavy for that) my camper and participate in their orientation.
I got there about 10 minutes early, but finally the orientation began. The fellow who did it is the same guy who gave the seminars I spoke of before. The camper looked quite different:
As Jeff (do you remember him from the classes I took at Camping World? – if not, you’re not paying attention) was going through things, we found a few more things that needed to be done:
I was excited to find out that there is a radio antenna on top of the camper – it should improve radio reception. There is also some sort of TV antenna booster, which Jeff Bittner says will improve reception considerably.
So you see, I had to leave the camper for a few more days. The work won’t take that long, but they’re booked up until next week sometime. They will call when it’s ready.
I’m really kind of glad I didn’t have to take it home today. It’ll be much better after I have the towing mirrors installed tomorrow.
I am making great progress on my new computer, though I’m running into a lot of programs that won’t load correctly. I’ve probably thrown out about 80 CDs that have been hanging around way too long. Talk about downsizing!
Until next time…
As you can see from the pictures, I have finally finished strengthening my ramp:
Today, I installed the 4x4 posts in the center of the 8-foot railings.
I apparently did an adequate job of measuring the angles on the post templates. Ace Hardware certainly did a skillful job of cutting them.
After this, I shouldn’t have to worry about someone falling because one of those long railings busts through. I had already replaced all but one of the railings after one broke, almost sending my cousin off the ramp.
The picture below shows a small addition I made which should make coming down the ramp much more safe. I wish I had thought to do this before Mom passed away. She often had to come down the ramp in a wheelchair and I think was scared she might just keep on going off the thing. It must be awful to have to rely on others for your safety. I know I don’t even like to ride in a vehicle unless I’m driving. I can’t imagine being helpless and at the mercy of someone else’s strength and judgment.
After finishing the ramp, I took a shower – boy, did I need it, ‘cause it’s still hotter than you’d believe here.
You can probably guess what I’ve been doing since. Yes, setting up my new computer. I’ve been finding I can’t load a lot of the software I have because it just isn’t compatible with the new Windows Operating System. Thankfully, I don’t use most of what I can’t load; it’s just stuff I’ve bought over the years and found I didn’t need or want to use it. A lot of these are games I never play. At least my Scrabble and Monopoly games work.
Tomorrow morning, it’s Ironman 2 with Robert Downey Jr. I hope it’s not as bad as the critics have said.
Until next time…
Today was another busy day. This morning, I cleaned out the five earth boxes and 2 planters that were sitting alongside my driveway – a hot job in the hot sun, but it was alleviated a little when I used the hose to wash them down. I always get wetter than whatever I’m trying to clean. This is just another one of those jobs I’ve been putting off for what seems like forever. Now, it’s not hanging over my head any longer.
After that, I took my 4x4 posts down to Ace Hardware where they did a terrific job of cutting them. At least, I think they did; I’ll know tomorrow morning when I try to install them. It was just too hot when I arrived home and then it rained very hard for about an hour.
To be truthful, though, the real reason I didn’t try to install them is that I noticed my new ASUS Notebook computer was on the back step as I drove in the driveway. I will be getting rid of my desktop computer – I don’t think it can stand the bumps and vibrations a camper makes as it goes down the highway. My old laptop is just too slow and doesn’t have any more room on the hard drive.
My new notebook has a Core i3 processor, a 500-Gigabyte hard drive and 4 Gigabytes of RAM. The OS is Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. It has a 15.6-inch HD LED-backlit Color-Shine widescreen. I’m also very glad it has the 802.11n high-speed networking.
One of its best features compared to my old laptop is that it has a numeric keypad. It also has a built-in webcam and microphone.
Can you understand my excitement? It almost makes up for not being able to go to my niece’s graduation --- but not quite.
I estimate that loading everything on my new computer will probably take a couple of weeks, especially since I have so many other things I’m in the middle of.
On Tuesday, you know, I pick up my camper.
On Wednesday, I’ll be going down to Jarrett-Scott Ford in Plant City to have towing mirrors installed on my pickup. One thing I learned while towing my camper to Camping World was that the regular mirrors just don’t cut it.
After that, I want to try camping for a few days to see what I’m going to need before heading for New York in June.
Sorry to ramble on so, but it sure has been a busy day. Don’t you agree?
Until next time…
I’m sure you have all heard the slogan said and sung, “Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man.” Well, believe it.
Over the last few years, there have been several times where the people at the Seffner Ace Hardware have helped me tremendously. They’ve cut keys for me no one else even had blanks for. When I couldn’t get my old rusty mailbox off the crosspiece, they removed it for me – and didn’t even charge me for it.
Today, they came through again. Well, not exactly yet, but they are going to tomorrow.
From yesterday’s post you know that I planned to make templates using 1x4’s for my 4x4 posts so I could take them to Lowe’s to have them cut to the right size and angle. After measuring and cutting the 1x4 templates, I called Lowe’s to make sure they could do it and was advised that while they will cut lumber to size, they don’t cut anything as big as a 4x4.
I then called Home Depot and was told that they do cut 4x4’s but only if I bought them there. Well, I didn’t and told them that, so that avenue was blocked.
Next, I called the Ace Hardware in Seffner. They were happy to do it, but couldn’t do it today. I’m taking the four posts over tomorrow around noon time. When the clerk I talked to warned me it would be $1.00 per cut, I told her it was worth a lot more than that to me – it probably wasn’t too bright of me to say that, was it?.
After all, I really didn’t want to cut those posts myself. I had just had the experience of cutting the 8-foot 4x4’s in half. My trusty Black & Decker power saw would only cut through about 2 1/2 inches of the post. I then had to turn it over and cut the other inch or so. With something that big and heavy, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. The second one I cut was very smooth—almost perfect, but you could see on the first one I cut that it took more than one pass. I can only imagine the mess I would have made trying to cut it on an angle.
So, tomorrow, I’m off to Ace Hardware and will probably be able to install the posts on Monday.
This afternoon, I took a nap (I can do that now that I’m retired!) – I think the heat combined with carrying those heavy posts got to me this morning. I also finished a great Sue Henry book (I’ve also started another by her today). I’ve read several of hers – most take place in Alaska, although one of her characters (Maxie, to be precise) travels around the lower 48 in her RV. She’s also flown to Hawaii in one of the books I have – maybe, sometime she’ll be able to afford to fly in an airplane :). If you ever get a chance to read any of hers, I can almost guarantee you’ll enjoy it.
Until next time…
This morning, after doing laundry so I’d be ready to go, I got on the TN DOT website and checked out the flooding again. After seeing all of the squiggly blue lines, I decided not to go to TN. I just feel very uncomfortable about driving up there in the aftermath of such devastation.
The worst part about not going, of course, is I won’t get to see all of my family. I planned to stop near Atlanta on the way up and visit my brother Jeff and his family, including my nephew Chris who is in the Army. I also will miss seeing my niece graduate from college and, of course, my other brother Ray and his family.
Oh, well, I’ll get to see them all when I go to New York for Mom’s memorial service –- them and a lot of other friends and family.
This afternoon, I forced myself to get out the paperwork for my mother’s estate and work on it. I don’t know why I dreaded it so much. I guess it just confirms again that she is gone and brings to mind how much I miss her. After all of the complaining I did about her waking me up throughout the night, I’d give almost anything to to have her call my name in the night.
It’s been so hot here the last few days, I can hardly stand it. Hopefully, it will cool down to normal high 80/s sometime soon.
Tomorrow, my plan is to measure for the posts I’m using to reinforce the railings. I’ve decided to measure and cut a 1x4 for each one and use the 1x4’s for a template for the posts.
The posts are 8’ long. I’ll first cut them in half and if that works okay, measure and cut them using the templates. If it’s really difficult to cut them in half, I’ll take the 4x4 posts to Lowe’s or Home Depot and have them cut them to size, complete with the angles on each end. I’ll be so glad to get this done. Once done, I’ll be applying sealant. Is there NO END to all of the WORK I have to do?
Until next time…
Today, my big project involved going to the AMC in Brandon to see City Island with Andy Garcia and Julianne Margoulis. I probably wouldn’t have gone to see it except I happened to catch Andy Garcia on the Huckabee show Sunday night and was intrigued by what Andy had to say about the film.
City Island is is an actual island and part of the Bronx, but situated on a small island.
To put it as succinctly as possible, the movie was hilarious. I laughed out loud almost all of the way through it. There are several over-the-top characters doing a number of unbelievably outrageous things, but you come to care for each one. I’d give it 5 of 5 stars.
I hope I haven’t built up your expectations about this movie to the point that you don’t find it as good as I did. I remember back in the late 1960’s having a very enthusiastic friend (remember, Hill?) keep me in stitches for an hour and a half as she described 2001: A Space Odyssey. I was so disappointed when I watched the movie. She had been much more entertaining than the movie.
Up In the Air
I’m still pondering the wisdom of traveling to my brother’s in western Tennessee in view of the flooding. Today, I went out to the TN DOT map (http://ww2.tdot.state.tn.us/tsw/smartmap.htm) again. There are still a lot of blue squiggly lines indicating where the flooding is. Also, I zoomed in a little which only made the flooding look worse. Sure, my route is mostly interstate highways, but I wonder if my being in some of those areas won’t make it that much more difficult for people trying to provide services to those flooded out. I don’t want to make their jobs more difficult.
I’ll have to make my decision tomorrow. I’ll let you know what I decide.
Until next time…
The last two days have been brutally hot. It probably wouldn’t seem so bad if winter hadn’t been so cold and if the cold/cool weather hadn’t lasted until the end of April.
This morning, in the extreme heat, I removed everything from the back of my pickup truck, including all of the stuff I’d put in there from the camper before taking it over to Camping World. My living room is now filled with an interesting assortment (would mess be a better word?) of tools, camper stuff and my cargo box/coffee table.
I had a lot of eBay business to take care of – I sold almost 30 books this weekend. and then had to go to the post office to ship the packages.
After the post office, I went to Home Depot to get a 10’ piece of PVC pipe I plan to attach to the back bumper of my camper to hold the sewer hose. Most people use their hollow bumper for this, but the inside of the metal bumper gets rough and can put holes in your sewer hose. PVC won’t do this.
I was able to get the fittings for the pipe, but the first Home Depot I visited didn’t have the pipe itself. The fellow was very helpful and looked up other stores in the area to see who might have one. The Valrico Home Depot had 68 of these in stock.
Since this was on my way home anyway, I stopped there and got the pipe. The very helpful clerk cut the pipe into two 5-foot sections so it would fit more easily in my pickup (I’d already decided to do this and one of the fittings I got at the previous Home Depot was a coupler).
I usually shop at Lowe’s for convenience, but in this case, according to the Internet, the pipe at Home Depot was $4 less than at Lowe’s and in this instance at least, the clerks at Home Depot seemed more in tune with good customer service than Lowe’s folks usually are. Isn’t competition a wonderful thing?
My niece graduates college on Saturday in Jackson, TN. My plan was to go, but after all of the flooding, I may not go. If you check out the following link, you can see all of the places the roads are flooded: http://ww2.tdot.state.tn.us/tsw/smartmap.htm
Click on Road Condition and see all of the blue lines indicating flooded roads. My route will take me on I-24 and I-40 (just follow the blue lines and you’ll pretty much have my route :) ).
I can’t help but remember what the roads in the Southern Tier of New York looked like after the flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes during 1972. If we hadn’t had four-wheel drive in our vehicle at that time, we probably would have gotten stuck. My pretty red pickup doesn’t have four-wheel drive.
Until next time…
More on SPOT
Today, I learned that Track Progress entries are not sent to the WheresKathyD@gmail.com email address, only Check Ins go there. I expect that’s not the last thing I’ll learn about SPOT and I’ll try to keep you up-to-date as I learn stuff.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Yesterday, my friend Karen and I went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This was my first time (and my last time) there. We started exploring the park about 9:30 am and finished by 1:30 pm. Of course, there were some things we didn’t do, such as ride the Mt Everest Roller Coaster, but we did ride the train and take the safari through Africa.
It was extremely hot – supposed to get up to 96, but there was a wonderfully refreshing breeze and this park is fairly wooded compared to the other Disney parks. I also had brought with me and wore my Arctic Tie. It’s a kerchief filled with crystals you soak in water for about 20 minutes
We did see a lot of animals, and REAL animals, not animatronics like at the other Disney parks. We saw lions, and tigers, but no bears, oh my :). However, on the safari, we drove right into where the animals are kept – right out in the wild. There were black and white rhinos, elephants, including a baby, ostriches, warthogs, antelopes, tommy gazelles, and other 4-legged deer-type creatures. We also got to see two piles of ostrich eggs – those eggs are HUGE!
On the way home, we stopped at Outback and had a delicious dinner. I then went home and crashed. The heat and walking really took it out of me.
My First Tow
Today, I hooked up my camper for the first time and towed it to Camping World. Since I’m here writing this post, it’s obvious that none of the events I imagined occurred. I didn’t back my truck into the pond or pull the camper too close to the side of the pond and lose it in there. I didn’t have even one flat tire. I had the correct hitch ball size. I won’t bore you with any more of my unfounded, ridiculous imaginings.
To get ready to hitch up, I first had to remove all of the junk I had stored that might scatter around as I drove, take off the tire covers, raise the four jacks that are used to add stability to the camper, remove the tire chocks raise the camper high enough so I could lower onto the hitch ball.
Then, came the moment of truth – backing up the truck so the hitch ball was under the hitch. As you know, most of the time, I will be doing this by myself without a spotter. Today, I lucked out – Karen came down and helped me. I also had bought a couple of rods to mount on the hitch ball and hitch. They stick up so you can see them in the back window, the object is to line them up. When they get close, you can then check to see if you have to make adjustments.
I tell you, after doing this, I am definitely going to buy a back-up camera I can mount on the bumper. It transmits to a small screen you mount on your dashboard. Camping World has one on sale this week, but it’s out of stock. I think I’ll order it on-line in the next day or so.
It didn’t take too many adjustments and we were able to drop the hitch on the hitch ball and fasten it. As soon as we had the hitch in place, I pulled the camper out and down the street a little (and didn’t even steer it into the pool).
That’s when the real fun started. I hooked up the electrical cord from the camper to the truck and guess what: ALL of the lights worked! Isn’t that great? After hooking up the electric, I thought I’d try to back up and see how it worked. Well, basically, I could hardly get it to back up. It was as if the trailer brakes were on.
THEY WERE! Once we pulled the electric plug, the trailer brakes were no longer locked. I seemed to remember something called a brake breakaway switch, but couldn’t find it. That is, I could find the switch, but not the cable to connect the switch to the camper.
Well, to make an extremely long story short, I left the electrical cord out and towed the camper to Camping World without benefit of camper brake lights and turn signals. It’s probably 10 miles there and I was on back roads with Karen traveling directly behind me, so it may not be as dangerous as it seems.
One of the many things that Camping World will be doing is replacing the breakaway switch and cable. They will also be doing a 45-point inspection, replacing wheel bearings, installing metal valve stems on the four tires in use, installing 2 Shur-flo fans, and doing roof preventive maintenance. When I pick up the camper on Tuesday, May 11th, they are going to give me their RV orientation, which consists of explaining and demonstrating how everything works. In view of my advanced age and impaired memory, I plan to record this information and take notes as well.
Until next time…
